Hot News: December 22, 2016

By Climate Nexus

Arctic Temperatures Skyrocket: Three days before Christmas, temperatures in the North Pole are expected to spike to above 50 degrees F hotter than usual and approach the melting point of 32 degrees F. This trend is only the latest in a series of troublingly hot temperature readings in the Arctic in recent months, and historical temperature records reveal that the Arctic is warming more than twice as fast as the rest of the planet. Scientists project that this extreme warming, still a rare event in the Arctic, will become increasingly routine as global temperatures increase, and may start to happen every other year towards the later end of the century if emissions stay at the current rate. (New York Times $, The Guardian, Reuters, NPR, USA Today, Grist, Mashable, ThinkProgress, Christian Science Monitor, Climate Home, Carbon Brief. Analysis: Climate Central.)

Trump Really, Really, Really Hates Windpower: In a series of letters sent between 2011 and 2013, Donald Trump repeatedly and persistently lobbied and cajoled then-First Minister Alex Salmond of Scotland to oppose a planned offshore wind farm near Trump’s golf course in Aberdeen. The 16 letters, obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request by Huffington Post UK, show Trump calling wind turbines “monsters” that “[destroy] Aberdeen’s magnificent coastlines,” while warning upkeep costs of renewables will make Scotland’s economy “a third world wasteland.” On the campaign trail, Trump seemed particularly fixated on dragging down wind power, claiming that it’s too expensive and that turbines kill “so many eagles.” The president-elect, who has tweetedabout the Scottish project 60 times since 2012, reportedly urged British politician Nigel Farage to oppose offshore wind farms that spoil views in a meeting shortly after the election. (Huffington Post UK, WSJ $, The Guardian, Politico, Grist, The Hill)

Arizona Axes Net Metering: Arizona regulators voted to do away with the state’s retail net metering policies on Tuesday evening, the end of a protracted two-year process. Members of the Arizona Corporation Commission voted 4-1 for a proposal to replace net metering with policies allowing the utility to pay less than retail price for electricity homeowners contribute to the grid. State solar advocates panned the move, with some groups estimating the policies will result in a 30 percent reduction in what utilities pay solar customers. (Greentech Media, Midwest Energy News, Arizona Republic, Arizona Daily Star, Phoenix Business Journal, JZZ, KTAR. Background: Climate Nexus.)

Climate Nexus

Since its founding in 2011, Climate Nexus has drawn upon established and emerging science to personalize and localize the climate and energy story through work with the media, relevant NGOs and other thought leaders.